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Bibb County house fire in Brierfield displaces residents in near-freezing weather Wednesday

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Units from Shelby County's First Battalion respond to a structure fire in Brierfield in Bibb County at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. The home was a total loss, but no one was hurt. (Courtesy / Spruce McRee)

BRIERFIELD, Alabama -- The residents of a Brierfield
mobile home in Bibb County were forced from their house in near-freezing
temperature Wednesday night when a fire started possibly due to a space heater.

Brierfield Fire and Rescue Chief Spruce McRee in an
e-mail this morning reported that units from Shelby County's First Battalion consisting
of six fire departments responded to the call at 10:29 p.m. on Thomas Fulgam
Drive in the community several miles south of Montevallo.

"Upon arrival, units found a single-wide mobile home
fully involved," McRee said. The "mobile home was occupied but the residents
were able to get out safely. Per the residents, they suspect a faulty space
heater as the cause."

McRee said the mobile home was a total loss. "The Red
Cross was also contacted to assist the occupants, and there were no injuries to
the occupants or firefighters," he said.

"Arriving units concentrated on the surrounding wooded
areas first to make sure the fire did not extend and potentially threaten other
nearby structures. Once the surrounding area was protected, the fire in the
structure was extinguished," he said.

"Since there was not a fire hydrant close, it became a
tanker shuttle operation unitizing tankers from Brierfield, Pea Ridge and
County 17," McRee added.

The structure fire was the seventh to which the
First Battalion has responded this year. Structure fires this year for the
First Battalion include two in Brierfield, one in County 17, three in Montevallo
and one in Dry Valley. The battalion also responded to a brush fire earlier
this week in Brierfield, McRee said.

County 17 Fire and Rescue's David Hawthorne said the First
Battalion is providing five to seven times greater capability for the
departments to respond to emergencies, including structure fires, with their
pooled resources.

"I am thankful to all our neighboring departments for the
help, commitment and professionalism they all display in bringing those
resources into service. In this day and age, the capability it provides is of
critical importance for everyone's safety on the scene," Hawthorne said in an
e-mail.

Hawthorne stressed the importance of smoke detectors in
homes and using space heaters safely during this season's chilly weather.

"I will say a common cause in general this time of year
is usually related to heating methods," he said of structure fires. "The cold
weather this year can cause people to use added heaters and/or fireplaces, and
all should take precautions to be certain these are working correctly, have
proper maintenance completed, have proper safeguards that work and are never
left unattended."